Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A New Buzzphrase!

And one that I am oh, so excited about! Now the world is abuzz with "The Worst Has Already Happened."

Of course, it's a pun on "What's the worst that could happen?" And is cleverly being used by job seekers all around the nation at job fairs and social gatherings alike, but there's a clear message being sent as an undertone in the phrase, and one that is mildly optimistic.

The worst has already happened makes it seem like we have already entered the next Great Depression, or even worse! But the phrase continues to urge people to take chances and to surpass their expectations, something that is optimistic in its pessimism of "nothing can happen that's going to make anything worse." If it can't get worse, it can only get better, right?

Isn't that the pure definition of forced optimism? If it is, does that mean this is the worst that the economy is going to get? In Great Depression terms, it's not too bad, but in recession terms, it's horrible. So maybe if this does go down as The Great Recession or a very mild depression sandwiched between two 9 month recessions, it seems about right. Which is optimistic even in its gloom and doom. If nothing can/will get worse, everything can only get better from here...but of course, it will take time.

But back to the buzzphrase. If more people are taking chances, trying something new, and going beyond their comfort zones, can all those actually be BENEFITS of this recession? Stay with me...Could the recession have reignited the entrepreneurial spirits in those who were sidelined due to having to moonlight as an inventor? Perhaps all this addition time off for many will lead to a plethora of inventions and betterment for the world emerging from The Great Recession.